18 News - Historic Brass Society

Dufay, it features Marie Garnier-Marzullo on cornetto and cornetto
muto (both built by Serge Delmas of Paris). Ms. Garnier-Mazullo
of course has been heard paired with Jean-Pierre Canihac and Les
Sacqueboutiers.. Here is an opportunity to hear her artistry on music
from another era.
As can be expected, her playing is a joy: tasteful, dynamic, and exciting.
Moreover, the ensemble is excellent. Consisting of mezzo-soprano,
vielles, tenor, lute, guiterne, and percussion, they work from a palette
of a wide variety of colors and offer very enjoyable results.
Of particular note is their treatment of La Danse de Cleves/Hellas mon
cuer which is at once lively, intricate and tricky in the instrumental
particularly exquisite.
The disc is Alpha 054 (www.alpha-prod.com). Packaging is very
colorful and notes are interesting and informative. Alpha has a large
exception. I highly endorse this product and look forward to more
in the future.
— James Miller
Ken Austin Eb Cornet. Recorded April 2005. For contact info: ken.
autin@trnty.edu -708-460-3554
For a relatively short time, (1850-1870), the reigning soprano brasswind
in America was the Eb cornet, both piston and rotary. This horn
was truly the melody voice of its time. Having taken over from the
keyed bugle, and then being itself quickly overtaken by the improved
Bb cornet, this instrument dominated during a time of musical and
instrumental change and progress. Ken Austin has focused on this
transitional cornet and its era with a diverse sampler of the repertoire
of the time. Ranging from jigs and airs, all the way to operatic variations,
this project encompasses the wide range of musical threads which
were coursing through the country in the mid- nineteenth century.
of original instruments, not reproductions, is admirable and certainly
of interest to HBS members.
The demands of this music range from simplicity to virtuosity. The
airs of Robin Adair and Last Rose of Summer require a sustained
pure legato, while the soprano acrobatics of Una poco voce fa (with
variations) and other showpieces necessitate a deft and agile approach.
Mr. Austin has shown his devotion to this instrument and its music by
covering this range of styles nicely.
All the tracks are performed with piano accompaniments; this listener
detects some use of a distinctly un-modern piano, which charmingly
enhances the feel and sound of the playing.
We hope that the collection of these solo works will be available soon,
Paul Maybery. They would be a welcome addition to any cornet/trum-
As to the instruments used: Ken recorded on two cornets. From the
identical era, they both used rotary systems. From the collection of
on the opening selection, Chandlers Jig, is an 1868 Isaac Fiske push
rod rotary valve Eb cornet. From the same collection, Ken also used in
this recording an 1865 E.G. Wright side action rotary valve Eb bugle.
Both instruments were utilized equally and the differences in timbre
and response are clearly audible to the listener.
Dr. William A. Crowle is the sensitive and supportive accompianist.
— Frank Hosticka
Johann Schelle Sacred Concertos & Cantatas
La Capella Ducale, Musica Fiata, Directed by Roland Wilson
Brass players included on CD:
Bork-Frithjof Smith, cornettino, Arno Paduch, cornettino, Hannes
Kothe, clarino, Almuth Rux, clarino, Thibaud Robinne, clarino, Uwe
Hartwich, clarino, Peter Zentel, trombone, Detlef Reimers, trombone,
Ferdinando Günther, trombone.
Label: CPO 999 841-2 (co-production with WDR), Recorded in:
Funkhaus, Klaus von Bismarck-Saal, Date: August 3-5, 2001, Released
in 2002
Roland Wilson and Musica Fiata Köln present here seven fascinating
church concertos and cantatas by Johann Schelle (1648-1701). In his
day, he was a highly respected composer, and part of a long and prestigious
line of musicians holding one of the most sought-after musical
music had been relatively ignored outside of Leipzig until about three
years ago. One reason for this was partly practical, due to the unusual
day have had the appropriate means to perform cantatas like, for example,
his setting of the Psalm 103 - Lobe dem Herren, meine Seele,
which calls for two concertato choirs of singers, two violins, two violas,
a bassoon, two cornettinos, three trombones, four trumpets, timpani
and continuo. The other reason has been his unfair comparison with
J. S. Bach, who was a later Thomaskantor. The chronological line of
Knüpfer- Schelle-Kuhnau-Bach in Leipzig should really be viewed
as a stylistic and cultural evolution rather than a series of steppingstones
leading toward a pinnacle. All of the earlier composers were
Consort recording series on the Hyperion label of music by Knüpfer,
Schelle, and Kuhnau has aptly demonstrated this.
scorings of this sort were very much out-of-date (with a few exceptions).
The skeleton of the modern orchestra was just then beginning to
take shape. Schelle, who was a contemporary of Buxtehude, enjoyed
the tail end of the «stylus luxurians», described in detail by Christoph
Bernhard in his famous treatises summarizing the numerous trends,
idiosyncrasies and experiments of seventeenth-century composition.
of Schütz and the supple theatrical style introduced in Dresden by
Bontempi. For lack of a better description, this mixture sounds very
«refreshing.» For those who enjoy clear unmitigated word painting and
rhetoric in baroque music, Schelle is never at a loss for incorporating
direct theatrical gestures within every phrase.
Also hat Gott die Welt Geliebt requires some highly sophisticated and
organic playing by the two trumpet players in order to make the music
work. These parts go far beyond the typical and incessant tonic/dominant
pounding found so often in the earlier 17th century or in much
of the 18th Century. Schelle tended to treat his brass instruments as
HISTORIC BRASS SOCIETY NEWSLETTER - WINTER 2005 | 35